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If only more people took the AssCreed 2 approach to all QTEs they wouldn't be so despicable. But 90% of them are either "Do it or you die and start over" or "Do it or you can't proceed to the next part. It's not an option or a fun little mini game, it's a haphazardly thrown-in mechanic that reeks of last-minute additions to inflate the game's length.

Games are interactive. I shouldn't use that word, but it's the one that conveys the point the fastest. You do stuff in games. You aren't supposed to just sit and watch stuff happening on its own in a videogame for long. You're not playing a videogame then, you're just watching a goddamn movie.

At the same time, you want cutscenes because they're cool and they push the story forward. So obviously, an ideal solution would be to combine interactivity with cutscenes.

I'm sure you can see where this is going; that's what most QTEs are supposed to be. Keeping you in the game, keeping you involved with what's going on on the screen, preventing from going into "passive mode" where you take your hands away from the controls and rest head on your hand just watching stuff happen. Because when you enter that mode chances are very good the videogame just fucking failed at being a videogame.

There are other benefits to QTEs. It keeps things personal, for one. Think of the final scenes of Modern Warfare 2 - it requires your input to shamble to Shepard, it requires your input to attack him, it requires your input to crawl for the gun, then it requires your input to pull out the knife out of your goddamn chest and throw it in his eye. All of this could easily be a cutscene. It would probably work out better as one too, from the drama perspective. But they left that interactive because watching a cutscene this long after spending twenty minutes of frantic gunning everything that moves would be anticlimactic and frankly speaking, boring. And it makes it more personal. Don't you feel better for *personally* killing the guy who betrayed you, killed your other self and started a war between USA and Russia instead of just watching it happen? Well, you don't, because you don't give a fuck about any characters in Call of Duty games or the gameworld in general. But the point still stands.

QTEs keep things videogame when they otherwise wouldn't be. They're a good thing and they're here to stay. Deal with it.

No. I don't want cutscenes. Every other Halo game got the balance right. If I did not want the cutscecne, I just skipped it "whoo new spaceship battle", next level. If I wanted it "whoo cool story bro" etc. I'm happy. QTE should die in everything but a QTE game. At least I'm open to giving others choice. ;)

Oh thank god. I don't even want to imagine what someone who objects to giving player more control over what's happening thinks is the very base of a videogame.

You don't actually enjoy video games do you? Why the hell are you here? If you want the game to play itself then just buy a movie and push buttons while pretending you're controlling the characters on the screen. It's OK, I won't tell anyone else how this makes you a strange, sad little man.

Jesus god damned christ. I wander off for a week and mohor is the voice of reason? The crap...

But yes. QTEs, in principle, are a wonderful idea. They keep cutscenes interactive. Trust me, as awesome as MGS4 was, it would have been a LOT better if there was something to do during the hour long cutscenes other than do the potty dance.

The problem is that QTEs have been poorly used at times. But I am also sure we have all played some bad FPSes and RPGs and RTSes: Are those inherently bad genres?

Obviously this is up to interpretation, but here are my thoughts

QTEs as a way to finish off a mook: See pretty much any recent game with melee attacks. These annoy me since they take you out of your rhythm and, in the case of the first God of War, can scale to the point that it is too difficult (after the 75% point, I can't kill minotaurs with the button mashing any more).

QTEs as a way to finish off a boss: if done correctly, this can make killing the boss VERY satisfying. See basically any God of War. However, without context clues, this can end poorly. See the Kraken in The Witcher 2

QTEs as a way to keep you on your toes during cutscenes: Resident Evil 4. Pretty much every QTE was there to make sure you were focused on the action, and most of them made sense in the context of the controls

QTEs as a way to increase immersion: God of War 3 and Infamous 2. GoW3 has the killing of poseidon where you depress both thumbsticks with your thumbs as Kratos gouges out his eyes with his thumbs, and the pounding of bone into the dirt with Zeus where the game won't end until YOU have closure on that. Infamous 2 does it in a really heartbreaking way with respect to the good ending where, after an artfully done level where the token "evil" teammate chooses self-sacrifice and the token "good" teammmate chooses life and you finally get some god damned closure on the Beast, you need to activate the sphere and commit suicide. The game has you depress every single shoulder button, one by one. Then, you are just told to "let go". Turns what is already a tearjerker into a full on snotfest as you experience something of what Cole has gone through for the past two games as you have to do just that: Let go.

Ironically, MGS3 also had a good example when you had to kill the final enemy. Really helps to drive home just how Naked Snake/Big Boss feels by forcing YOU to pull the trigger.

Last edited by gundato; 17-11-2012 at 01:47 AM.

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